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Honenu Atty. Bleicher; Photo credit: Honenu
Tuesday, February 8, 2022, 12:32 On Monday, February 7, the Lod District Court decided to leave all of the suspects in the murder of Yigal Yehoshua, Hy”d, in remand until the end of proceedings against them. In early January, the court ordered the remand until the end of proceedings of four of the suspects and left the decision regarding the three other suspects for a later date. All seven suspects are charged with attacking Jewish passengers in cars with cement blocks and rocks near an events hall in Lod during the Arab rioting at the time of Operation Guardian of the Walls (May 2021). Yehoshua, who was driving one of the cars, died of injuries sustained from the rock attack.
In her decision, District Court Judge Merav Greenberg wrote, “I have been convinced that there is ample evidence to prove the guilt of the respondents of the crimes attributed to them. Under interrogation, all of the respondents admitted to taking part in throwing rocks at the car of the deceased. Their acts were nationalistically motivated. The respondents were aware of his Jewish extraction and that he had been injured as a result of their acts. After his injury they did nothing to assist him.
“All of the respondents took an active part in the murder. The circumstances of their acts, their awareness of the deceased’s injury, and their abandonment of him indicate on the face of it that they acted on an emotional foundation of apathy and showed indifference towards his possible death.
“A nationalistically motivated act of murder and racially motivated rock-throwing are attributed to the respondents (the terrorists), who were motivated by racism against the deceased due to his Jewish extraction. The goal of their acts was to injure innocent Jews. Their conduct after the act indicates cold-heartedness and outrageous apathy to the possibility of the death of the deceased. The acts of the respondents establish a high likelihood of dangerousness, and to that I will add the concern of disrupting legal proceedings.”
Honenu Attorney Chayim Bleicher, who is representing the victim’s brother, Effi Yehoshua, stated, “Yigal Yehoshua, Hy”d, was cruelly murdered at the hands of many murderous terrorists, most of whom hold Israeli citizenship, but act with the enemies of Israel in their attempts to injure and destroy the Jewish citizens of the State of Israel. After hearing the sharp and clear decision by Her Honor, Judge Greenberg, who examined the entirety of the evidence and material in the case, one realizes opposite what cruel enemy Yigal, Hy”d, stood and the danger of the terror lurking at the doors of loyal Israeli citizens.
“We expect all of the murderers to spend the rest of their lives between prison walls. The details of the incident, including all of the testimonies, must be studied by all of the decision-makers in order to immediately take the necessary steps to protect citizens, to deter terrorists, and to cope with terror from within and from without.”
The defendants have admitted to throwing rocks at Yehoshua’s car, and claimed that they had done so in revenge for the death of Musa Hassuna the previous day and in revenge for the acts of Jews on the Temple Mount.
At the previous hearing, the attorneys of the terrorists complained that the investigation had been carried out by the GSS and that the incident was classified as an act of terror. The attorneys claimed that the defendants were “normative individuals,” and some of them added that because of the GSS investigation, it is not possible to rely on the confessions of the defendants. The attorneys also claimed that it is not known which rock hit the victim, and therefore not all of the terrorists should be charged with murder.